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A different comic book, with simple drawings, yet so profound and delicate in the themes it proposes. Beneath the Veil by Takoua Ben Mohamed is an artistic product capable of offering important lessons on the most debated Islamic symbol of all time: the hijab.
The cartoonist, a young, veiled Muslim woman, narrates her life in the Italian capital with humour and self-irony through an episodic narrative formula. In her book, she reveals a desire to normalize the veil. Fighting against the misleading perception of many non-Muslim Italians, she tries to show that this special piece of cloth does not complicate or inhibit the life of women who wear it.
The artist gives her personal perspective on the topic, sharing the vision of those who “experience” the veil first-hand, and demolishing stereotypes and prejudices about Islam. Among the objectives of her drawings is to educate the public, inviting readers to put themselves in the protagonist’s shoes and develop greater empathy towards Muslim women.
Takoua challenges and plays down the negative voices on the Islamic veil, but how does she do it? What topics does she deal with? Before answering, a brief introduction to the artist’s profile and the causes that have pushed her to speak with extraordinary spontaneity about her hijab is in order.
A Tunisian from Rome
Takoua Ben Mohamed was born in Duz, a city in the Tunisian hinterland, in 1991, but moved to Rome with her family at the age of 8. Her person is split in two souls: a Tunisian one, which reflects her roots, and an Italian one, as her current life is in this country. She is proud to embrace a double homeland, which she considers a source of cultural enrichment, and labels herself to the public as: “Tunisian from Rome”.
After her studies in animated cinema, she turns her vocation, graphic journalism, into her profession. Her collaborations with magazines and artistic projects are several, as well as the invitations to conferences. She also participates in four TEDx Talks in Italy, and her career is dotted with recognitions and awards.
Source: Takoua Ben Mohamed’s Instagram profile.
Takoua makes no secret of her faith: she is a Muslim and wears the hijab, a symbol that for her reflects not only a religious connotation, but also an identity one. In numerous interviews, she has never hidden the fact that she was a victim of stereotypes and prejudices for the sole reason of wearing the veil.
Probably, her personal experience was the driving force that pushed her to develop a strong sensitivity to the issues of racism, prejudices, and sexism, all contained in her comics: from “La Rivoluzione dei Gelsomini” to “Un’altra via per la Cambogia”.
Takoua Ben Mohamed’s greatest contribution in the artistic field, however, remains her commitment to dismantling the clichés about the veil, which have long penetrated Italy. Reference is made to the false generalizations according to which veiled women are subjugated, abused and potentially dangerous for the West.
“Beneath the Veil” there is a girl like the others
Beneath the Veil was published in 2016. It is a realistic comic that consists of a rich range of episodes with a clean design and a satirical and humorous tone, where the protagonist is author Takoua herself.
Each comic is concise and introduces fragments, sample excerpts, of her daily life: from the small youth dramas, common to all the girls (such as the sporadic appearance of pimples or the stress of exams), to the bizarre and unpleasant situations she encounters just for wearing the veil.
Source: Takoua Ben Mohamed’s Instagram profile.
In her drawings, Takoua never abandons her hijab, which remains the constant focus in almost all illustrations. Aiming at normalizing the Islamic symbol, the cartoonist shows, in fact, that “beneath her veil” there is a girl with an ordinary life, who experiences common, concrete, sharable feelings. She teaches that the hijab does not place limits on her person; on the contrary, it completes her and gives her added value.
If a girl who doesn’t wear the hijab has to deal with messy hair, the same happens to Takoua, who, however, has to deal with strands of hair coming out of her hijab or pins which serve to fasten it to the head; if an unwanted pimple appears on her face, she can hide it by pulling a corner of her veil; when going shopping, she can’t miss out on purchasing the most fashionable hijab of the moment.
In short, Takoua tries to reduce the extraordinary nature that characterizes the hijab within the Italian society, to translate it onto the level of ordinariness of Muslim women who “live” it on a daily basis. Thus, the reader is invited to learn more about the Islamic cloth and to correct misleading perceptions about it.
The didactic spirit of Takoua’s comic strip
One of the focuses of Beneath the veil is to give correct and authentic information on the hijab. Known for its undoubtedly religious importance, it is treated as a tangible piece of cloth in the book. The result is a different narration of the issue of the veil, which is addressed in lighter and more understandable tones.
Source: Takoua Ben Mohamed’s Instagram profile.
Through simple jokes, for example, Takoua manages to make the readers laugh and at the same time teach them important lessons. Some of these concern the differences in the use of the veil in public and private contexts, and the free autonomy of women to wear it, without male impositions.
The protagonist of the comic book is, in fact, subjected to indiscreet questions and comments that sound absurd and paradoxical to her, and which, at the same time, reveal profound misinformation and cultural prejudices around the Islamic veil.
The topic of alterity: “Do you come from the Muslim land?”
Another topic emerging from Takoua Ben Mohamed’s graphic book relates to alterity. Emblematic, in this regard, is the drawing “Muslim land (the wonderland)”, where the protagonist reacts with perplexity and sarcasm to the question “Do you come from the Muslim land?”. These doubts imply the assumption that a Muslim cannot also be Italian.
Takoua’s artistic effort moves in the opposite direction. Wearing the veil brings about some not-so-radical changes in her life. In many respects, her daily life does not differ from that of her female peers, including, unfortunately, gender disparities in the workplace. However, unlike the other girls, she has to deal with religious discrimination.
Source: Fumetto Intercultura.
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